Seat belt use saves Syracuse teen from serious injury in Oct. 1 crash

Thursday

Oct 12, 2017 at 9:29 AM

Laramie Wernerlaramie.werner@gmail.com

A Sunday morning accident that ended with a car in flames on the Otoe Spur Oct. 1 was without any serious injury. S-D-A High School Senior Erica McMullen, 17, was driving home from work in her Jeep Liberty. It was raining hard when McMullen’s vehicle went into the ditch. She over corrected into the other ditch, over corrected again and ended up sideways before slamming into a culvert.McMullen said, “I sat there for a minute and my first thought was, ‘Oh my gosh, my Dad’s going to kill me!’” Thankfully, her parents had instilled in her the importance of wearing a seatbelt and she has always done so.Since her door was pinned against the culvert and leaning almost on its left side, Erica said that she unbuckled and crawled out of the sunroof onto the road where she called her mom. The car caught fire, and Syracuse Fire and Rescue responded.McMullen was transported to Syracuse Community Memorial Hospital where she said they checked her for injuries. She had some scrapes but no major bruising or anything causing substantial pain.So passionate is McMullen about singing that she joined the SDA Encore and choir at First Plymouth Church in Lincoln for their concert that evening so she wouldn’t miss her solo. At that point, she said that she was just numb and shaken up about the accident, but she really enjoyed the performance. However, she did have a small concussion and by the next day needed some rest.Overall, McMullen is just thankful to be without any serious injury. She said, “If I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt, they said I would not be here… My senior year has definitely been full of challenges. From trying out for American Idol, to trying to pick a college, to this freak accident. However, all of this has helped me to become a stronger, confident person. I’m so glad I wore my seatbelt so that I can go on with life and continue to sing for many performances.”